Sunday, March 23, 2014

Here come the useful toilets!

"These are lofty ambitions beyond what most of the world's 2.5 billion
people with no access to modern sanitation would expect. Yet,
scientists and toilet innovators around the world say these are exactly
the sort of goals needed to improve global public health amid challenges
such as poverty, water scarcity and urban growth.
Scientists who accepted the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's
challenge to reinvent the toilet showcased their inventions in the
Indian capital Saturday. The primary goal: to sanitize waste, use
minimal water or electricity, and produce a usable product at low cost.
The World Bank estimates the annual global cost of poor sanitation at
$260 billion, including loss of life, missed work, medical bills and
other related factors. India alone accounts for $54 billion - more than
the entire GDP of Kenya or Costa Rica.
India is by far the worst culprit, with more than 640 million people
defecating in the open and producing a stunning 72,000 tons of human
waste each day - the equivalent weight of almost 10 Eiffel Towers or
1,800 humpback whales."

These toilets create fuel, electricity, and other products instead of just causing health and sewage issues. Great going!